Rhapidophyllum hystrix (Pursh) H. Wendland & Drude. Common name: Needle Palm, Blue Palmetto. Habitat: Moist to wet soils of small blackwater stream swamps, especially where underlain with coquina limestone ("marl"), hydric hammocks and rich, wetland-upland transitions. Distribution: Se. SC (Beaufort and Jasper counties) south to c. peninsular FL, and west to s. MS. Becoming somewhat popular as a hardy palm that can be grown in the Southeast, well north of its natural range. As a result, records of it naturalizing northwards should be anticipated; reported for the mountains of TN (J. Shaw., 2020, iNaturalist and pers.comm.)
ID notes: The base of the petioles and inflorescences of this species are conspicuously sheathed (ground-level).
Origin/Endemic status: Endemic
Synonymy ⓘ: = FNA22, GW1, K4, S, S13, WH3, Zona (1997); = n/a — RAB; Chamaerops hystrix (Fraser ex Thouin) Pursh — (basionym)
Links to other floras: = Rhapidophyllum hystrix - FNA22
Wetland Indicator Status:
- Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: FACW
- Eastern Mountains and Piedmont: FACW
Heliophily ⓘ: 4
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native range: SC, GA, FL, AL & MS